phenryiv1's 1989 325iC Project - SETA 2.7i Swap Complete and Running!

[Overlord475]

Need to do this:

http://www.gress.org/home/cars/track...down%20DIY.htm

The 2.7i is fun.

I used the Leak Down tester from HF.

It worked well and it's on sale right now:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cylinde...ter-94190.html

[phenryiv1]

The 2.7i is fun.

I used the Leak Down tester from HF.

It worked well and it's on sale right now:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cylinde...ter-94190.html

My previous previous build (the '88 ) had a 2.7i and it was awesome. This supereta bottom end just fell in my lap.

[bradnic]

sweet thread. you're a madman pace wise. sub'd

[phenryiv1]

sweet thread. you're a madman pace wise. sub'd

I think I am really just good at buying parts.

[phenryiv1]

I promised no more "hey I bought parts" posts for a while and I intend to deliver. I finally took some time and turned wrenches on the car this Saturday and the results were positive but incomplete.

I hate pulling exhaust. Hate it. The only thing worse is pulling the driveshaft, which (of course) entails pulling the exhaust. So F me. But it had to be done, and it had to be done on the ground and not on my lift. Double F me.

Everybody knows HOW to pull exhaust O I will spare the details there but the process went pretty well, overall. One of the previous owners decided that using the regular copper exhaust nuts was too simple so they had 3 different types of nuts on the exhaust manifold joint where the downpipes connect to the manifolds. There were 2 copper nuts, 2 17mm stainless steel nuts and one 15mm mild steel nut. Yes, you counted right- 5 nuts for 6 exhaust studs. Whatever...

Anyway, like a dumbass I turned the exhaust pipe on its side to get it out from under the car and then dragged it to the rear of the car. Yup, I did not need those O2 sensor wires to be connected or anything. Looks like it is time for a new O2 sensor. I got worried because those tend to like to seize into the downpipe. Enter a REALLY big wrench:



Yes, that is a 24" adjustable wrench.

So on to other stuff. Looks like I will be needing new trans bushings. Sorry fo rthe glare but check out the distortion in the one on the right:



Normally my go-to for those would be Condor but since this is a street car and the family will be riding around in it I want to limit NVH where I can so it will be some sort of street-grade urethane mount. The Condor were awesome in the rally car but for the street I will go a little softer.

With the exhaust out of the way I can finally get to this little F'er, which was the whole reason for going to the lengths that I did to remove the exhaust and contemplate the driveshaft removal.



Driveshaft removed:



And here is how bad that rear bushing was. No wonder I had really bad shifter slop.



Reason # 2 for all of this disassembly was to get unrestricted access to this joint to facilitate the DSSR install:



After I removed I I was glad that I had gone this far, even if I had had the late model "narrow" joint. This part was completely worn out so replacing it was a good ideal.



Reason #3 was for the rehab effort was to remove the balancer, which would REALLY be in the way of the DSSR. I don't know why the DSSR manufacturers or retailers don't mention this fact but on my convertible (which is way in the "safe" year range" there is now way that the DSSR would work with this in place. If I did not have the time to do all of this removal at my own pace, discovering this mid-install of the DSSR would be a huge problem.

So on the the fun/easy part: removal of the balancer. I was all worried about doing this but it took all of about 3 minutes. I took a small hand sledge and knocked out the 3 studs with gentle taps, taking care to not mar the threads by threading the nuts back on to the studs.



Next, I took the studs and aligned the grooves with the groves in the flange and tapped them into place, not worrying if they were seated all the way. A few easy taps got the splines engaged.

I then took the now-removed balancer and placed it open-side-down on the ground and aligned the studs with the openings in the flange. I held the driveshaft vertically and hammered the studs down until the head was fully seated against the flange.





So with all of that done, I took a look at the CSB and decided that now was a good time to replace that. It is hard to tell from the picture but it is a little squishy on top/bottom. Lateral movement was really tight and the rotational movement was smooth but no need to let the rubber rip before replacement.



Like I said, it is not dead but with all of the parts out and exposed, I might as well go ahead and replace that so work stopped there for now. I might do the guibo as well but it is really in great shape so it seems unnecessary at this point. I'll look at the cost and decide on that when I order the CSB.

And of course, some new parts arrived- Motorsport Hardware wheels studs. I was putting off ordering them until I changed wheels again but since I will be installing the 17" replica wheels once I get the car off of jack stands and ramps.

[phenryiv1]

I forgot to upload this picture from the weekend.



Need to order these exhaust studs (I forgot with my last parts order): 11127593376

[phenryiv1]

Working backwards a bit here...

I installed my 17" Motorsports replicas this weekend. They seem to rub pretty much any time I even look at the steering wheel. Rubbing is on the fender liner more than on the metal of the wheel arch.

Specs: 17x7.5" et18mm 4x100, tires are 215/45/17.













I am not set on keeping the coilovers but am not opposed to raising them up a bit. Alternatively, I was thinking about the H&R cup kit for the convertible (http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-43...FWgF7AodkW8A0A)

Obviously raising the coilovers should fix any complications with the wheel arch but my mental calculation is failing me on whether or not that will impact (positively) whether the tires rub on the fender liners.

If raising them up is an option I still might just sell the coilovers and convert to the Cup kit.

Thoughts on how raising the coilovers might impact the contact with the fender liners?

[phenryiv1]

Also installed a Motorsport Hardware 68mm wheel stud kit with black lugs:

Blue ThreadLocker



Hand tight:



Torqued to 25 ft/lb.



Function over form, since they can't be seen:



(Yes, I am aware that only 2 lug nuts are installed.)

[phenryiv1]

NOW the post about the re-install of the shifter parts, driveshaft, etc.:

Parts sitting for install:



So I ordered some Garagistic delrin shift bushings (http://store.garagistic.com/ocart/bm...hifter-bushing) last Monday, along with a new b!+th clip[ (for $5.50...why not?). For some reason they did not ship until Wednesday (I had tracking Monday) but fortunately they arrived Saturday, mid-assembly. I only ordered them because I did not think that I had the OEM rubber part and I figured that with the R3V free shipping code it would be the same cost as just ordering the OEM part plus shipping. In the end, I actually had a brand new stock rubber part buried in my parts bin but oh well...at least I had it if the delrin part never showed up.



New shifter in the refreshed carrier. This is the Z3 1.9 shifter with a new cup:



I checked the alignment marks and split the driveshaft, then pulled the old CSB.



New CSB, new backing plate, new circlip:



So this seal fell off after I removed the shift carrier. I'd have replaced it if I knew it was bad but I was too far into the job to stop and wait for the new seal. Hopefully it isn't too catastrophic.



New rear carrier bushing/mount (the whole reason for dropping the exhaust and driveshaft in the first place:



New sponge/insulator and new narrow shift joint. I ordered one a few weeks ago to go with the DSSR but it turns out that I also had a new one of these in my parts bin. Maybe I should do a better job on inventory control.



Another angle, with the DSSR installed:



Another DSSR:



New guibo installed with the driveshaft harmonic balancer removed:



Shifter and inner boot installed:



That is all for now. I have more (somewhat humorous) news about the state of my project car but I have been at the computer for too long and am tired of typing for now.

[8380 Labs]

i'd go with 205 or 215/40 tires, rather than swapping the suspension out.

just for reference, going down to a 205/40 will be 1.25" less rolling diameter, that's .6" more clearance at the fender (vertical, not width wise).

[Roysneon]

Not sure how stiff you want the shifter to feel, but garagistic makes delrin inserts for the front and rear of the shifter carrier. They're super nice pieces.

[phenryiv1]

i'd go with 205 or 215/40 tires, rather than swapping the suspension out.

just for reference, going down to a 205/40 will be 1.25" less rolling diameter, that's .6" more clearance at the fender (vertical, not width wise).

That is a consideration. I have NO desire to be this low but the car came this way. I plan to come up about 1" all around and to roll the fenders but that may not do anything for clearance at the fender liners. It may even be contacting at the plastic nuts that hold the liners in place. I had been under and around the car far too much this weekend and I had other things to do (and it was Mother's Day) so I wrapped it up for the day/weekend with plans to investigate further this week.

[phenryiv1]

Not sure how stiff you want the shifter to feel, but garagistic makes delrin inserts for the front and rear of the shifter carrier. They're super nice pieces.

I kept the rear one rubber because this is a street car and my wife will drive it from time to time. I had the same setup with all OEM rubber on my rallyX car and liked it but I ordered the Garagistic part for the front since it is not really something that adds any NVH. Not that the rear would either but I already had that brand new rear carrier assembly on-hand (and I actually KNEW that I had that one!)

[8380 Labs]

That is a consideration. I have NO desire to be this low but the car came this way. I plan to come up about 1" all around and to roll the fenders but that may not do anything for clearance at the fender liners. It may even be contacting at the plastic nuts that hold the liners in place. I had been under and around the car far too much this weekend and I had other things to do (and it was Mother's Day) so I wrapped it up for the day/weekend with plans to investigate further this week.

raising the car will certainly improve your clearance issues, i'd think.

a slightly smaller tire would be a good step in any case.

keep up the good work!

[phenryiv1]

So after thinking it over, I decided to post my coilovers up FS/FT here and on some local(-ish) FB groups. I got an offer to trade my setup for a set of Bilstein Sports and convertible-specific H&R Sport springs, complete with new top mounts and 15mm e90 drop hats (plus cash on his end). As luck would have it, the other guy and I will be only 20 minutes form each other this weekend so it looks like the deal will get me the suspension that I really want while not being a logistical nightmare.

The previous owner of these wheels/tires had them on H&R Sport springs (without rubbing) so my hope is that they will fit on the convertible with the equivalent setup.